Cartwheel

Cartwheel (2013) by Jennifer DuBois. This book is a fictionalization of the Amanda Knox story, in  which an American student in Italy was accused of murdering her roommate, convicted and later acquitted by a higher court. The American girl in this story is named Lily Hayes, and she goes to Argentina instead of Italy. But, like Amanda Knox, she is accused of killing another exchange student whom she shares housing with. There are many parallels between the two stories, but they are not identical -- nor are they meant to be. One important difference is that Lily does, in fact, turn a cartwheel in the room where she is waiting to be interrogated. Amanda was reported to have turned a cartwheel, but this was later shown to be false. I found the book to be interesting, though I couldn't say for sure what the purpose was in writing it. I'm sure the writer is getting at some truth, but I just couldn't see what it was. Grade: B